1. Field of the Invention
This invention is for a gel chemical composition with a tackifier. The composition is sticky and will coat and adhere to surfaces. The composition is activated by moisture to absorb water and can be used to protect components from water damage.
The composition can be used to coat wires and the sheathes around the wires used in communication cables. The tacky gel can be used to coat the wires during cable manufacturing. The composition also heals shorts in lines such as telephone splices which carry a small dc current.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Communications cables such as telephone lines are made up of a multitude of wires, typically copper wire, which are insulated with plastic or other materials. Many wire pairs make up one cable. Typically a wire pair is surrounded by a plastic or paper sheath or wrapper. The multitude of wrapped wire pairs are enclosed in a flexible cable cover.
The wires have been coated with a thin layer of thermoplastic resin such as polyethylene. The wires are drawn through a vessel of heated thermoplastic and as the wire goes through the heated resin a thin coating is deposited and adheres while cooling onto the wire. This process takes place before wrapping the wire. When the wrapped wires are brought together to make the cable a filler such as a petroleum gel is added inside the cable cover to fill the interstitial spaces.
In use the wires are connected to one or more small dc power sources to provide the transmission current that is required and eventually to the telephone terminal equipment, one or more telephone transmitters at one end or location and one or more telephone receivers at the other end. The housings are pressure type closure systems and it is crucial to prevent the entry of invasive water and protect the splices from moisture. The entry of moisture into the cable splices or into a cable which is not surrounded by a closure causes a conductive path through the moisture from wire to wire if the insulation of the wires is not maintained. When this happens, the wires either short out all together or cross-talk is established, thereby disrupting the telephone communications.
The cable splices are protected by housings which enclose the wire splices. The housings are typically maintained under pressure. The housings are laid underground or above ground. The closures are exposed to damaging conditions which can cause leaks in the housings thereby providing an access to water.
One method of providing additional protection to the spliced connections inside the housing includes wrapping the bundle with a flexible material, and injecting a liquid epoxy or urethane into the housing which solidifies within the housing. The composition must be mixed on the site and is typically injected with a gravity flow into the housing. The material typically does not fill the entire interior of the casing and leaves voids. These voids or channels can create an avenue for the entrance of water, particularly at either end of the bundle that exits in the housing and forms the wire bundle in the cable. The wrapping around the splices as in the housing also can cause a funnel effect such that the water enters through a fissure at either end of the closure around the cable and into the wrapping around the bundle.